Athens

Acts 17:16-31

NLT

[17] (16) While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply troubled by all the idols he saw everywhere in the city. (17) He went to the synagogue to reason with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and he spoke daily in the public square to all who happened to be there. (18) He also had a debate with some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. When he told them about Jesus and his resurrection, they said, “What’s this babbler trying to say with these strange ideas he’s picked up?” Others said, “He seems to be preaching about some foreign gods.” (19) Then they took him to the high council of the city. “Come and tell us about this new teaching,” they said. (20) “You are saying some rather strange things, and we want to know what it’s all about.” (21) (It should be explained that all the Athenians as well as the foreigners in Athens seemed to spend all their time discussing the latest ideas.) (22) So Paul, standing before the council, addressed them as follows: “Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious in every way, (23) for as I was walking along I saw your many shrines. And one of your altars had this inscription on it: ‘To an Unknown God.’ This God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I’m telling you about. (24) “He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn’t live in man-made temples, (25) and human hands can’t serve his needs-for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need. (26) From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries. (27) “His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him-though he is not far from any one of us. (28) For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ (29) And since this is true, we shouldn’t think of God as an idol designed by craftsmen from gold or silver or stone. (30) “God overlooked people’s ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him. (31) For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead.”

NRSV

[17] (16) While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply distressed to see that the city was full of idols. (17) So he argued in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and also in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. (18) Also some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers debated with him. Some said, “What does this babbler want to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign divinities.” (This was because he was telling the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.) (19) So they took him and brought him to the Areopagus and asked him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? (20) It sounds rather strange to us, so we would like to know what it means.” (21) Now all the Athenians and the foreigners living there would spend their time in nothing but telling or hearing something new. (22) Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, “Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. (23) For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, “To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. (24) The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, (25) nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. (26) From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, (27) so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him-though indeed he is not far from each one of us. (28) For “In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, “For we too are his offspring.’ (29) Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals. (30) While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, (31) because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”